Asked by host Katie Couric about what went wrong among the onetime pals, Richie simply said, "We just grew apart."
So, is there a feud between them? Not really, said Richie, though the spat "just turned into a much bigger thing than it is. It's just not part of my life."
And yet, should she and Hilton happen to run into each other – "at the mall or someplace," Couric inquired – they would not speak to each other, Richie said flatly.
She also soundly denied that, although she's lost an indeterminate amount of weight – "I don't know (how much), because I don't own a scale" – she has an eating disorder.
Later on Friday, on Live! With Regis and Kelly, Richie said the novel's character Simone was a composite, not based on Hilton as suggested by the show’s guest host, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
